The Darkest Soul
by TwilightMus
Summary: This is a multiverse spanning Buffy Charmed the xmen and underworld. The Underworld was adjusted slightly, and the xmen are similar to evolution in that they are young, and mutants aren't widely known about. Buffy is post season seven. Charmed is alterd.
1. It Slices

I don't own any of the buffyverse characters other than Judy and Sara. The x-men, charmed, and x-files characters are all the property of their creators respectively as well (marvel, fox etc...) Enjoy. ...xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx... "It Slices, it cuts… it hurts them… they screem…. I smile… It makes me…. Happy to hear them scream…"

"Well it would wouldn't it?"

She lay there, in a dark hallway closet. Tears and blood trickling down her face… she tried not to whimper…

"It thinks it can hide from us…. It smells tasty… I think I will play with it, love it some more… before…"

"Yes you do that."

The voices came from outside in the hallway… everything was so dark… somehow she knew the light was still on out there, but it was dark anyway… it felt dark…

"There's no one left lets go."

"No, there is one, sneaky little girl… thinks she can…. Play with me…"

"Fine, Hurry it up then we don't have all night."

A claw… a silvery, long, four fingered claw crept it's way around the door and slowly pulled it open… there was heavy, husky breath… a smell like rancid meat… and then she screamed, in pain, in fear she screamed. With all her heart and soul she fought back pointlessly… thrashing violently as she sceamed...

It was the most horrible sound Phoebie Halliwel had ever heard.

As she opened her eyes, collapsed on the floor, recovering from her vision, she realized, she was screaming too.


	2. Cursed

"You can do this willow."

"Come on red."

"Make it happen."

This woman, this one woman changed the world. Buffy had saved it many times over… but she… she changed it, she changed the rules.

The red headed Wicca sat on the floor… the air around her crackled with mystic energy as she chanted her incantation… an orb sat on a pillow in front of her.

Her eyes went dark.

"That's a good sign." whispered a tall brown haired girl to her black haired companion in leather.

Buffy Sat at the front of the room… Willow at the center, Kennedy sat directly in front of her just outside of a circle of sand that surrounded the young Witch.

A few other spectators dotted the lower level of the hotel, a man with an eye patch sat next to a blue haired woman behind a counter. Three other men gaurded the door, an English gentleman, and two vampires (one scowling in concern, the other, bleach- blondedly shuffled his feet).

Then the room grew bright, everyone held their breath… Willow was glowing… a soft peaceful ringing seemed to emanate from her, along with a lot of hot white light.

"Oh my god" said Buffy quietly… "Is this what she looked like when she?..."

"That's my Goddess." Answered Kennedy, half in awe, half smirking.

The orb shattered. The leather-clad dark-haired-woman screamed… and fell to the floor.

After several minutes the glorious light began to dissipate… Willow smiled and stood up, looking a little loopier than usual.

"A little help, Ken?" She smiled as she held out a hand to her girlfriend.

Kennedy quickly moved to support her.

"Did it work?" Asked Buffy.

"How do you feel?" Dawn asked theleathered vampire as she helped her up off the floor.

"A little disoriented… I think…. Oh my god…" tears started to trickle down the sides of her face as Selene remembered with great clarity, all of the atrocities she had committed… all of the people she had killed in her blood war… all of the innocents who had gotten in the way…"I think it worked… oh god I think it worked."

Everyone began cleaning up, no one saying anything at first... then as they headed for the door Dawn turned to Angel and Spike… "How does it feel?" A questioning look "You know… not being the only two Vampires with souls anymore?"


	3. Captured

"So all of them?"

"All of them."

"Everywhere?"

"In our dimension anyway."

"Wow."

"Vampires aren't evil anymore?"

"Well that's really up to the Vampires now."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

**NEW YORK**

"No fair Kurt!"

Jubilation Lee dove to the ground just as Kurt Wagner disappeared in a puff of smoke, taking the bright red flag the young woman had been after with him.

"Proffesor! I don't get it? How are we supposed to beat teleporto-boy at capture the flag? Not exactly an even match seeing as how none of us can so much as fly, let alone outdistance him."

Kitty Pryde stood, arms folded glaring around the practice field, as though trying to atomically disassemble and reconstruct it with her mind. There had to be something… there was always something…

"Well that's the point of the exercise Ms. Lee. You three aren't junior classmen, you need to be able to handle yourself in a real challenge."

Kurt stood at the top of a hill holding his bright red flag. "C'mon! You girls aren't even trying! There's only three more flags… Here I'll give you a ten second head start!"

Kitty glared at kurt for a second then turned toward the other two members of her team.

"Lee, I've got a plan."

"My name is Jubilee… only the professor…"

"one…. two… three…"

"Trust me and listen…"

Jubilee and Amara leaned in close for a few seconds listening to Kitty speed through her plan…

"seven… eight… nine…"

"NOW!" Shouted Shadowcat.

Amara was the first to act… she closed her eyes and hit the ground with her fist…

"… TEN!" The Amazing Nightcrawler disappeared in a puff of smoke leaving behind a stench of sulfer…

Kitty Pride closed her eyes and slipped silently into the ground… phasing her body through the molecules of the earth.

BAMF Nightcrawler appeared in a puff of smoke… but Le…errr Jubilee was waiting for him.

CRACK! a dazzling flash of light exploded from the young mutants fingertips, as she concentrated her random plasmoidic bursts into a single point… the effect was a spectacular and disorienting light show that hit Kurt Wagners senses with enough intensity to make him lose track of any and all orientation he may have had to his surroundings…

Still holding the flag he had appeared at, Nightcrawler blinked feriously. He couldn't port safely without seeing where he was going, but he couldn't stay here… Kitty was smart, she'd planned this… she'd be there any second… well he could at least teleport back to his hill, as it was fresh in his mind, at least until he could see clearly…

BAMF

"Hi Kurt."

The flag in Nightcrawlers hands seemed to disappear… he blinked for a couple of seconds… Kitty Prydes image slowly came into focus in front of him… she stood a few feet away holding the red flag in her hand, smiling smugly.

That was ok, there were still two more flags, he already had two and they couldn't beet him to the others the same way, he'd be ready…

Kurt looked around frantically… preparing to teleport again. But there were no flags in sight. Kitty had already phased back into the ground.

"Vhat? Vhere?"

"Oh, you mean the flags?" asked Amara casualy leaning up against a tree... "They're still on the field… well under the field… I wouldn't suggest teleporting to them unless you want to lose a limb, but don't worry… Kitty will get them out of there for you." The young blonde smiled innocently.

And, low and behold, Kitty Pryde did appear a few moments later, carrying three red flags with her… Kurt was still gaping.

Clap Clap Clap Clap…

Professor Xavier rolled onto the field applauding as his students, an amused smile on his face. "Excellent job all of you, I've said it before and I will say it again, you are always stronger as a team… "

"Thanks Professor." Beamed the young woman.

"Your welcome Kitty." Then he turned. "Oh and congradulations Kurt.

"Vhat?" asked the german boy, taken by surprise.

"What?" echoed Ktty Pryde and her compatriots with a hint of indignance.

"There were five flags… Kurt got three… " began the Professor.

"No he didn't! We have three! Look!" exclaimed the young Jubilation. The other two girls nodded in fierce agreement.

"Actually, Kurt got three and you took one away from him after he had already gotten back to his base. By the rules of the game he captured the flag and got it back to his base first… so the flag counts as his."

Kitty hit her forhead with her hand… Jubilee did a Kurt impression and gaped.

"You all should feel proud, you showed an amazing amount of ingenuity and some very good teamwork, but as a suggestion… you should always remember what game you're playing… don't ever forget what your goal is or your strategy means nothing. Now… if you'll all run inside and wash up for dinner. I will be in shortly, I believe Logan and Miss Grey are cooking tonight."


	4. The Pack

"Phoebe, Phoebe! Are you alright?"

"We heard you screaming!"

"Demon?... Warlock?..."

"I'm Alright guys… girls… sister things… just stop yelling ok?"

"What was it?"

Phoebe Halliwell sat on the side of her bed holding an ice pack to her temple. Prudence Piper and Page all stood at the door glaring at her in concern.

"I had a premonition… there was a girl she was being attacked by something horrible."

"That's it?"

"She was… umm there was a monster with claws… it was big, horrid looking but it was in the dark, she was in the closet somewhere… wait there was another one and I think there's more than one victim."

"Any Idea where?" said Page as she sat down on the bed next to her sister.

"No… " replied Phoebe "But I think… I think this is something that's already happened, I don't know how I can tell, I just can…"

"So then what's the point of the Premonition?" Asked Prue leaning against the doorway looking skeptical as ever.

Piper gave her a look and went to sit on Phoebe's other side.

"The point." Said Phoebe "Is to stop this from happening again… because I think it will, if we don't."

"So how do we get the details?"

"I have to go to work" started Prue "But I can listen to the News and check out the web to see if there have been any killings thatwent public."

"Good." Phoebe stood up. "Look for anything about anything involving more than one girl… I think that's part of the MO." she turned"Piper, you check the book of shadows. Page you do some general scrying spells."

"What will you do?" asked Page never liking to be bossed by the former youngest sister.

"I'm going to check the astral plane."

The wolves all sat in a circle. A private ground near Muir Woods just north of San Francisco.

Together they meditated. There were only five, but there would be more soon.

Oz's eyes were closed and he was listening. Something new had happened, they all felt it, it was just a matter of figuring out what.

Being a Werewolf had turned out to be more interesting than anyone in the pack had first expected. Ancient shamanic rights and rituals responded to the atunement between man and animal that their condition allowed. Much was possible with the right training, as the five were only beginning to discover.

At first it had just been about controlling the wolf nature, but now it started to become a matter of harmonizing with it, allowing it to manifest naturally and not just within the confines of an ancient curse. When in perfect unity the pack could ascend to all forms of themselves, from purely human to purely wolf… to the instinct driven hybrid that forced it's way forward on the three nights of the full moon.

Oz had a theory about why the Werewolf hunted humans. It wasn't a purely predetorial hunt… the wolf, when manifested, could still feel the human nature beneath and got vindictive about it. Being forced below was the reason the wolf could find no peace on the few days it surfaced. That was the reason for the occasional ritual ingestion of a human heart.

So far the theory had held up. When the wolf was allowed equal expression throughout the month... when one could reach in and communicate with it… the full moon became a time of peace, a time of release. No longer was he controlled by the repressed instincts… rather, he let his other nature take it's course… although occasionally the pack still hunted dear or rabbits or other animals in the woods when they were hungry… it was nice to not fear the bloodshead.

Just then Jessica screamed. She rolled over on her side and started twitching… Oz and the rest of the pack jumped up and ran to her side.

Jessica was one of the more sensitive members of the pack. Her mother had bitten her some months ago before being shot by a Werewolf hunter. Jessica joined the pack as an orphan, sad and lonely, she and Oz had hit it off right away. She liked that he wasn't too aggressive… lately they had been dating and she had started to come out of her shell a little more. She still hadn't engaged in the full moon orgies, but everyone took a little while getting over their human repressions. Her sensitivity however allowed her to progress in the shamanic rights much faster than any of the others, she was more in tune, and in touch with her wolf form, and the world around her.

"Jessica… Jess… what is it!"

"C'mon your going to be ok…"

She had stopped twitching and was just lying there staring at nothing.

After a while she spoke.

"Didn't you feel it?..."

A lot of puzzled looks answered her.

"Th-the earth… the sky… ripped open… and I felt them come in…"

"Felt what Jess?" asked Oz… running a had through her blond hair.

"Little stars… little clouds of burning hot light… all looking for their shells… all sharing… all singing… such a sad song…"

Oz looked at the others. No one knew what to say.


	5. Ash Church

Westchester county. Upstate New York:

A man sat in a church. The maintanence woman said that he'd been there all night.

The congregation had congregated for the morning service this Sunday in april.

The man stood up as the pastor was giving his sermon. The man began to sing an old church hymn.

It was a sad song all about the sins of the flesh and the evils ofsaid sins and the retribution of god and his undying mercy…

The pastor had to stop preaching. The mans voice was so beautiful. The whole church was entranced.

Feeling this must be gods work (and not wanting the congregation to think that he was out of the loop somehow) the pastor began to sing as well. Soon the whole church was singing along.

The man smiled. Turned out of his seat. And walked slowly down the aisle still singing.

Some people got up and followed him. The pastor was one of these, and most everyone else followed the pastor.

The man walked to the doors of the church. Threw them open and stepped outside his voice now hitting the climax of the song.

The churchcame a few yards behind as he stepped into the morning sunlight, burst into flames and exploded into a pile of ash.


	6. Judy The Track & Field Star

((I did create the characters in this chapter but not the world they're in nor did I create the effects that world has on them))

((PS: Thank you for the reviews, I live on feedback and tend toward the projects I know are being read (as we narcicists are prone to), re: the feedback, yes this is a very large story with a lot of characters and a plotline that ties them all together (hopefully) but I don't want to sacrifice character developement and since fanfiction doesn't run on a budget I don't have to but the plot will begin to explain the connections a bit more and flush out what is going on.))

Judy Darlang hated running, she hated it and everything gym.

She panted for air, her shirt sweaty, halfway around the track watching her classmates pass her for the third time.

She watched the bleachers, the sick kids, that Dafton in the wheelchair, the inhailers, god, she wished she had athsma.

At 5'3" and 203 pounds Judy wasn't quite big enough to be given imunity from exercise for a medical dissorder, she had no "glandular" problem that any doctors could find, she just put on weight faster than most. She would skip breakfast, eat a salad for lunch, and then have pasta and ice-cream for dinner. She had to sneak the ice cream past her parents but they kept buying it and it kept dissapearing so she knew they knew where it was going.

Her father tried to chear her up by saying that if she were stranded on an island she would outlive everyone because her body just had a more efficient metabolism. She retorted that she would probably die first because all the people with innefficient metabolisms would eat her.

Her mother tried to encourage her one day when she came home from school. She brushed the hair out of Judies tear-stained face and said "Oh Judy, you have such a pretty face, I just wish you wouldn't hide it under all that fat."

Her mother was drunk, she kept telling herself her mother was drunk, she did drink a lot.

Sarah Jefferson ran past her laughing to her companions between easy strides... "You know her parents gave her a cellphone that beeps to warn them, when she backs down the stairs! Really! I mean it, I hear it whenever she pry's herself out of her desk... " ... "Look at how her legs jiggle, it looks like jello!" "Well she is full of marshmellows!" "hahahaha Sarah you're so mean hahahaha!"

Judy had stopped crying at school, she just bit her lip and tried not to breath too loud, every step made her more concious of her legs and she cursed whoever had invented the short gym shorts, hell, she cursed whoever invented gym, she cursed Sarah Jeffersons parents for spawning her, she cursed her own parents, she cursed her lack of athsma, she cursed that awefull ringing in her ears.

It was loud, overwhelming, dizzying, she thought she might throw up, she contemplated the advantageous of that occuring. Then the ringing softened into an eerie , peacefull, beautifull hum. She was so tired, and then the wind picked up, and she wasn't. It picked up for just a second, carrying the beautiful humming with it, it flowed through her hair and her body and she felt strength, peace, confidence rush through her.

Then her vision cleared and she realised she was still running, she was running AHEAD of Sarah Jefferson and her friends who stared onward with gawks of disbelief! She was running faster than anyone on the field, and her chest didn't hurt, her breathing came easy, she even had the strange feeling that she had stopped sweating, she didn't feel so hot, and the salty water had ceased stinging her eyes.

Judy came up behind Sarah and her group again, she felt so free, this just seemed so easy, and sudennly she had the overwhelming desire to beat Sarah... on the track... yeah beat her at running, yes... that is exactly what she wanted to do.

When she finished her 1 mile requirement she did an extra lap for good luck and finished in front of a crowd of shocked faces.

Coach Neialsbi kept her stunned expression for two whole minutes before coming up to Judy and patting her on the shoulder... "Judy, I had no idea you had that in you!?" she gafawed.

Judy just stared at her blankly, "um thanks."

"You're time was good enough to qualify you for the track team, have you ever thought of....?"

The rest of the day of tryouts followed suit. Judy broke the pole for the vault but still cleared the highest mark with ease. She outdistanced the long jump, nailed her javeline into the side of a building far past the field, she was too late for the soccer or softball tryouts, but she did manage to squeeze-in the wrestling team, something she would NEVER have considered before that day but suddenly felt could be... "fun".

Coach Neialsbi aplauded vehemently as she pinned her 4th opponent.

The muscley boys in her weight class did not applaud.

Judy was flying high on endorphines and confidence when her best (read: only) friend Stacey approached her in fifth period. Stacey looked worried.


	7. Splintered Wood

*WARNING, THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS GRAPHIC DEPICTIONS OF VIOLENCE AND SEXUAL SITUATIONS*

{I do not own characters from Buffy, Charmed, Angel, Underworld or X-Men}

Judy Darlang walked down the sunlit path absentmindedly watching the light dance on the sidewalk in patterns of swaying leaves painted by the leaves of the mighty elm trees that lined the streets of Summerset Lane.

Everything since the Track and Field tryouts she had been forced to participate in was a hazy yet pleasant blur of events. She had lunch with stacey, gossipped and giggled about the boys in the wrestling match with some new acquaintances who had found her suddenly more compelling, been asked to take an impromptu physical with a blood and urine test which Stacey pointed out was probably to test for drugs or steroids, and throughout the series of unprecedented events she had maintained a state of altered and heightened awareness that left her feeling like she was viewing the world through some sort of new lens that made everything clearer and more significant yet left her feeling somewhat detached, like an observer in her own body.

She kicked a pebble and watched as it embedded itself in a fire hydrant which began to spray out of the dent it made as she walked past. Turning down Mordier Drive she took a shortcut through an alley that led to a creek crossing which ran under the outer-wall of a cemetery.

She ran her hands across the smooth surface of the marble inlay and concentrated on the sensation, surprised by the detail her mind perceived.

A voice from behind her said something she didn't register, but she turned around to greet the anomaly.

CRACK!

A piece of something hard snapped over the back of her head and she fell to the ground, face first into mud alongside the creek.

She pushed herself up slowly spitting blood onto the ground and turned, looking up at her assailant.

A blond boy near her age stood holding a wooden plank, his short straight hair hung loosely on his forehead and he stared at her with compelling blue eyes. The boy raised the plank defensively, his upper arms flexing bulging muscles, his torso rippling with youthful strength under a tight white t-shirt.

"Jake?" Judy managed to sputter.

Other images came into focus, the boy was surrounded by a small cadre of friends, most from the wrestling team she noted. They sneered at her, one of them had a hungry look in his eyes. Jake stared at her without saying anything for a moment as his eyes traveled up her bare leg to taking in what her loose skirt revealed upon flipping up as she fell.

"I said, what the fuck do you think you are doing!?" repeated Jake.

"I... was just walking.." Judy reached up to the side of her head, feeling a sudden pain, something hot and sticky was matting her hair.

"He means at school you dumb whore" jeered one of his companions.

"What are you some kind of Dyke now?" continued Jake. "I should have guessed, you're fat enough to be one."

The small hunting party chuckled first nervously then laughed maliciously throwing random insults, encouraged by each-other.

Jake also looked more confident, he moved forward and put a hand on Judy's exposed thigh.

"You stay out of our way you fat freak!" called someone from behind him as he moved his hand upward and inward.

Judy just stared in shock, tears began to blur her vision, her head was ringing.

"I think you need to remember how to be a woman... " Jake called over his shoulder to the others "Maybe we should help her remember?"

The looks of loathing and malice became tainted with lecherousness as the group closed in.

"That's right." said Jake now talking to himself as much as anyone. "You need to remember how to be a girl... you never had a man did you? That's why your so... confused... " he leaned down closer, his body now inches from her. "But we can help you... no it's our job to help you right? You should be 're going to make you into a woma..."

Thud!

Jake went flying at a 45 degree angle into the air clearing at least 6 feet before landing heavily against the trunk of a mighty elm and falling limp to the ground.

There was a yell of surprise from the group as the girl on the ground was no longer on the ground either.

Judy watched as if outside of her body, she was in the air, she had lept from lying flat on her back, and now the world was spinning because she was flipping two feet above the head of the nearest boy.

She landed behind him then kicked backward hard, she heard a crack and new he had fallen.

A long piece of wood was swinging at her from behind and to her left, her fist met it and it splintered into a hundred pieces. The assailant who had wielded the crude weapon stepped back in shock clutching his arm.

From her right came another body, this one had it's arms wide and lept at her in an attempt to tackle her to the ground. She grabbed him by the neck mid flight and followed his motion over her head and let him go, peripherally aware of him speeding like a dart to the wall and flattening against it with thump.

Two more, the first turned and ran, the second swung his right fist at her. The world spun again as she flipped backward kicking a rather large rock up into his face. He fell to his knees, mouth bloodied as she turned mid leap and kicked the rock with her other foot sending it flying at the retreating figure. Two boys fell, face first, to the ground as she landed, one arm out stretched for balance, the other pointing downward to center her.

She breathed heavily, not with exhaustion but with adrenaline. Everything was hazy, and some part of her was telling her to run, so she did, she ran straight at the wall and cleared it in a single jump, fleeing into the Cemetery, instinctively searching for a strategic place to recuperate or set up an ambush if she was pursued.

Inside of her somewhere a voice was screaming, but the cries of shock, fear and anguish wouldn't escape her throat, so she let them flow out in her tears.


	8. Hemlock

((I don't own Buffy, Charmed, Underworld, X-Men, or any of the characters owned by those who own them))

*****************

Chapter 8: "Hemlock"

*****************

"Willow! are you ready to go?"

Willow stuffed a few more books in her bags and grabbed a small charm off the prick of a wall-lantern.

"coming sweetie!""coming sweetie!"

Willow came downstairs covered in bags and pulling two large suitcases with some effort.

A brunette with dark eyes appeared beside her. "here let me help you with those luv." she grabbed the largest of the suitcases and walked down the stairs with them like she was carrying an extra purse.

The lobby of the hotel was under construction, and she met the others over a din of jackhammer and drill work.

"Ready for a wild weekend?" said the blond sporting her own rather large bags and some stylish sunglasses under a sun-hat.

willow smiled as xander saluted an affirmative to their leader.

"Giles said he'd meet us there?" asked Kennedy shuffling through the front doors and leading them to the large black awaiting airport cabs.

"I'm so excited!" squealed dawn from the rear. "first London, then LA then pairs... best Sophmore year ever!"

"Don't think that means i haven't noticed your homework is late." chided willow.

"Awwe man! I was hoping you'd forget... say do you think there will be a lot of attractive lesbians in San Francisco?"

The whole group stopped whatever they were doing in the cab and stared at the youngest summers as they pulled away from the curb.

"Y'know... cus that might distract Willo..." dawn muttered under her breath.

"Oh!" said Buffy relieved... and then she thought she shouldn't be relieved and scolded herself for being relieved that her sister wasn't a lesbian which was perfectly OK, better than OK it was gre...

"You know i only have eyes for one hot lesbian." smiled willow as she leaned over to kiss Kennedy seductively.

"Wow these windows go up and down!" xander nervously exclaimed as he rolled down the nearest to get some air, shifting in his seat.

The lobby of the airport was as busy enough to keep everyone busy until their flight began. willow had had to cast a little spell on the metal detectors to get them all through, in addition to the charms she put on their bags to confuse the baggage claim inspectors.

the plane took off and Buffy looked out at the clouds as they passed through. she hated getting cryptic messages from Giles. but willow confirmed a malevolent force moving toward the bay area. if she hadn't been a slayer she might have really started to begrudge the endless stream of malevolent forces... but this was what she did, who she was, this was her gift.

******************************************

"What happened here?"

Phoebe and piper walked through the debris where the moon alter of Diana used to be. a woman named Tabitha was standing nearby in a smudged white robe.

"It was just a ritual blessing, we don't know what went wrong... I've gone over the reagents and the rite again and again and i can't find a single error by the adepts." answered Tabitha.

"Yeah, we just did this last week, it seems like it's all the same." remarked piper as she waded through the mess of broken stone and wood.

"That's why i called you... i was hoping maybe the charmed ones would have some insight."

"Oh cut the honorifics tabby." retorted Phoebe playfully.

Tabitha just gave her a smirk. "you may not be ready to accept your role, but you are in a position of authority, that means responsibility, and that means honorifics to remind us all of this fact."

Phoebe just put up a hand while she was talking and made it open and close like a mock mouth.

"Hmmmm hemlock..." said piper rummaging through a broken bowl of herbs. "and when did you say the explosion occurred precisely?"

Tabitha thought carefully... "during the calling of Diana... as the hemlock was lit. does that mean anything? was the hemlock bad?"

"No... " answered piper "i dunno, maybe, I'd put the rest of this batch in storage and check the garden to be sure." she handed the bundle of herbs to her sister.

"Ohmhhggg!!" Phoebe gasped and flinched hard as she was struck by a premonition.

Piper moved behind her instinctively in case she fell.

"It's ok sweetie, what do you see?"

Phoebe looked pale, her eyes darting about behind their eyelids as if she were in rem. "i see.... oh goddess.... i see..."

"Phoeb...?"

Phoebe finally went limp falling backward into pipers arms. the older sister cradled her to the ground and sent Tabitha for a wet cloth.

"It's alright. it's alright." piper cooed.

Phoebe finally opened her eyes as Tabitha came back with the cloth. she damped her own head and sat up slowly.

Tabitha knelt nearby patiently but visibly curious.

"It was... " began Phoebe answering the unasked "... i saw... i think i saw Diana."

Tabitha looked dumb-struck lowering her head.

"You saw the goddess Diana?!"

Phoebe nodded, tears she hadn't noticed still rolling down her face.

"Did she say anything? what was she doing?" pressed Tabitha.

Phoebe looked up, tear stained toward her sister.

"She was leaving."


	9. Trademark

((I don't own Buffy, the X-men, Charmed, Underworld, or Angel. Judy is an OC inspired by elements of these worlds however.))

BART stretched from Oakland, across and beneath a mass of water and resurfaced to the underground transit station at the Embarcaderro, a hub of down-town, corporate and tourist attractions packed on the edge of the water front of San Francisco's eastern border.

The small entourage emerged from below the city streets pulling long wheeled suit-cases and looking around at the large buildings, the crowded streets, the plethora of bicyclists speeding past. The buildings were tall and imposing, a montage of modern and classic architecture, framing the busy streets in a chimeric panorama from before and after the great earth-quakes of centuries past.

Dawn pointed her cell-phone at everything which made little clicking sounds at regular intervals.

"I'm buying you a video camera." Said Buffy as she reached for her buzzing phone only to see a picture of the building she was standing next to reflected on the screen.

The troup traversed bustling intersections following one of their member sporting an eye-patch and consulting a large map. They finally arrived at the Hotel Le Diva, walking through the large glass doors and crossing the lobby beneath a large hanging chandelier. Xander, the man with the eye-patch went to the Matradee to check them in as the others sat in plush, overly cushiony, elaborately decorated sofas.

Buffy was perusing a copy of GQ as she heard a voice from behind her, "Ohoy! Buffly!"

Buffy looked over her shoulder quickly and then stopped dead, dropping her mouth to a visible and dramatic gape. Her companions seeing her reaction looked for the impetus and followed suit.

Sitting at the hotel bar across the lobby was a would-be-distinguished English gentleman raising a tall mojito to them in salute, precariously keeping his balance on a sturdy plush stool.

"Oh my goddess..." whispered Willow standing up "... is... is **that** Giles?"

"Dawn don't look." said Buffy reaching for her sister who quickly ducked out of the way.

"I already saw." began Dawn. "And what's the big deal, old people drink all the time, you guys always do after I go to bed."

Two people exclaimed "Old!?" in unison as Dawn completely ignoring them, strode over to the bar and gave Giles a hug.

"WEEEeeelll Hallo Dawny." said Giles giddily taking another sip of his strong mint-flavored beverage.

The bartender glided over to them wearing a short cut sequin dress. "Is this your father?" she asked Dawn kindly.

"No... he's my... he's my sisters librarian." said Dawn taking the drink from Giles and placing it on the counter.

Tucking her head under one of his arms, Dawn led Giles away from the bar as "Buffly" finally made her way over with the others.

Xander took Giles' other arm. "Sooo Giles, having fun in the city I take it?" Xander asked giving an over the glance at the bartender.

"Yess.. It's quite a cilty you know." Giles slurred.

"What room are you in?" asked Dawn.

"Room thsirteen... " Giles answered merrily "... it's a lucky number you know shliertshteen." after this Giles began chuckling uncontrollably and they couldn't get anything else sensible out of him as they made there way through the elevator to room thirteen.

Gently placing him on the bed dawn took the opportunity to explore the small but very posh room as Willow got a damp cloth and began dabbing the mans forehead. "Poor Giles."

"It's his own damn fault." said Buffy "He knows brittish people can only drink burben."

"Another great man suckered by the great deceptive powers of the minty beverage." commented Xander as though he were a cop looking at a crime scene.

"Oh. Maybe not." said Dawn from the small desk next to the polished rose-wood armoire.

The others turned as she brought a book with her and sat at the foot of the bed. "These are star-charts... " explained Dawn. The books in Latin but you can see Giles translated a bunch of it onto a calender and made a bunch of notes on it."

Buffy leaned closer, the charts looked overly complicated but she could make out Giles' extreemly dainty scribble on the calander alright.

"See here, it says the Equinox following the first blood moon of.... of Virgo... sorry, and that something will happen... a fire? or maybe a test?"

Buffy looked over calender as Dawn translated through the highlighted portions of the book.

"A great forging... it's kind of unclear... or maybe it's just my Latin... " continued Dawn "and when the test has come to pass, humanity will... will meet it's fate." Dawn looked up "I think that's it, another apocalypse prophecy I guess."

Buffy looked at all the dates and the notes Giles had scribbled on the calender. Monday the sixth _"Arrive in SF."_Tuesday the 7th _"See Dorlea about my order."_Nothing marked for Wednesday and Thursday. Friday the 10th _"9am: Surprise Buffy at the Airport. 12noon: Take Dawn shopping for school supplies."_Saturday the 11th "Visit the Sisters." Sunday the 12th _"Talk to Buffy."_

"So you think Giles got drunk just because the world is going to end? You know that excuse only works seven or eight times before you have to admit you have a problem." Xander chided at the sleeping Giles. Dawn shrugged.

"You may not be wrong Xander." said Buffy solemnly. Turning the calander over she pointed to Monday, November 13th, three days away. In small blurry handwrigting that trailed off into a scribble at the end.

_"I will die."_


	10. Wade

((I don't own X-Men, Buffy, Charmed, Underworld, or Angel))

"What does he mean '_die_'." exclaimed Xander.

Kennedy stood back watching the others, feeling a bit out of place. "I don't think it's very vague." she said flatly.

Xander shot her a dirty look but Willow cut in first "So Giles thinks he's going to die?"

"And it doesn't say '_We will die'..._" remarked Dawn "It says _'I will Die.'_"

"Stupid prophecies." Buffy scowled. "I've had it up to about here with them."

"Well we can't really ask him what he meant until he wakes up." said Kennedy again trying to be helpfull but feeling quite uncomfortable.

"No... but maybe we can figure out what he meant." thought Buffy. "If he thinks he only has three days we don't have a lot of time, he might not wake up until later tonight."

"I can try following his notes and translating the rest of these charts." offered Dawn "Maybe see if he made a mistake or he got freaked out and didn't get the whole prophecy."

Buffy nodded approvingly. "You do that. Meanwhile we can go se this Dolera person and retrace some of his steps."

Willow looked at the calander. "I'll look through his notes and see if I can track down these 'sisters' maybe they're see-ers or witches... they might know what's going on."

"Alright, Xander you're with me. Kennedy with Willow, Dawn move Giles and his stuff to our room, we don't want to take any chances in case someones trying to get to him."

Dawn thought a moment then nodded suspiciously.

*****************

Judy ran through the graveyard jumping over rocks and vaulting headstones. She looked around for anything that could be used as a good spot for an ambush, her head was throbbing and she felt a warm trickle of something traveling down her neck but ignored it.

Her heart was racing, tears stung her eyes, she couldn't believe what had just happened or what she had just done. Was it all adrenaline? Were they going to live? Was she going to live?

She found a small stone structure with a door and hurried inside... a passageway lead down toward what looked like a crypt.

She checked out a crack in the door to see if she was being followed than made her way silently down the passage. It was still light out and the dimming sun shone through stained-glass-windows depicting figures that looked like angels.

Finally she made her into the crypt and stumbled behind two large caskets holding her head. She was starting to feel a little dizzy.

Looking at her hand she briefly registered that it was drenched in blood before she slipped sideways, dropping to the floor, unconcious.


	11. Glimpse

((I do not own the X-Men, Buffy, Charmed, Underworld, or Angel))

As they turned down the street in the Silver-blue rental car Willow had a strange sense that someone was watching them.

The car drove past pristine Victorian homes with well-manicured lawns, with large spaces between them. This was rather odd as almost every neighborhood in San Francisco had houses built so closely together that a cat could barely fit through the gaps. These must have been built shortly after one of the great earth-quakes as a reaction to the deadly fires which had spread from building to building so quickly that whole blocks were consumed before the fire-fighters had any chance of putting them out.

Kennedy put the car in park alongside the curb and the two women stepped out into the clear sky and blaring sun. They dawned their shades as a couple of men strode by hand in hand with a distinct lack of shirts.

"What would you think if we summered here once in a while." Asked Kennedy of her girlfriend. "There's something about this place that makes me feel... what's the word... comfortable?"

"I'll answer that when I get over the fact that you use 'Summer' as a verb." Said Willow sardonically.

They walked up the street past a few houses finally turning at a large grey-wooden manor with sloping lawns and marble railings. "Looks like the sisters are loaded." commented Willow.

"Maybe they summer." snided Kennedy.

Ascending the stone steps they approached a large wooden door, slightly ajar.

On the porch below them was a note that looked as though it had been stepped on. Willow picked it up and read "Thanks for looking in on our cat while we're in Marin, we'll be back tomorrow, help yourself to anything in the Kitchen but don't touch the spice-rack. - P"

"Spice rack?"

"Witches." answered Willow definitively.

"So I suppose they're not here, I guess it won't do much good to talk to whoever is watching their cat." Kennedy thought aloud.

"You mean that cat?" Willow pointed to a tan Siamese who was sitting on a nearby post. It's collar was made of pewter and had a trifecta symbol on it. The cat looked at Willow intently for a minute before jumping off the railing and disappearing into the flowers behind.

"Hey look at this!" whispered Kennedy. Willow looked down. On the door near the latch was a kind of claw mark, the metal bolt of the lock was sticking out and looked as though the end had been eaten through by something corrosive.

"Better not touch it." whispered Willow. "Maybe we should go in and see who's here."

Kennedy nodded and pulled a wooden stake out from the back of her belt.

They entered through the door cautiously, trying not to make a sound. There were more claw marks on the Walls, and what looked like a feint trail of saliva which led through the main hall and up the stairs.

Willow peaked into the kitchen, noting an open jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread on the counter, the spice-rack was untouched.

Walking up the stairs, Kennedy carefully tested each step ahead of her to make sure it didn't creak. Willow, behind her, pulled an amulet on a chain around her neck out from under the front of her shirt and held it tightly.

The trail of saliva led to the top of the stairs then through a hall and up another flight, ending at a closed door. A strange sound was coming from inside, something between a rasping breath and a slobbering/munching sound.

Kennedy looked at will for a moment, they both nodded and Kennedy kicked the door sending it flying across an open attic room.

She lept inside with Willow on her heels, and the sight that met them confirmed their suspicions.

The attic room was large and had many boxes and chests. An overturned table lay at their end with what looked like a cauldron, candle holders and some herbs strewn across the floor beside it.

The other end of the Attic was far more interesting though. In front of a large window was a pedestal with a large closed and sealed, rather old looking book on it that read "The Book of Shadows" in elegant engraving on the cover.

In front of the book was a massive grotesque creature. It's body looked to be about 12 feet long, and it was bipedal, hunched over to fit in the attic space. It had leathery grey skin with shades of black and puke green running across it. It's eyes were dark and globe-like, set under large brows. It had what looked like could have been a tail and it was nude though it didn't look it as excessive folds of it's long leathery skin draped over it like a cloak.

A putrid smell eminated from the creature and it the noises they'd heard from the hall appeared to be the sound of it's breathing.

The creature turned toward them, it's arms which looked to be too long for it's body had apposable hands which ended in 12 inch long silvery claws. It's eyes narrowed maliciously.

Kennedy held her stake up ready to attack but willow held her back. "Wait." she pointed down, and below the creature was a young blond man in a grey shirt, soaked in what looked like his own blood. The man was entirely unconscious.

"You are going to die a lot!" yelled Kennedy as she lunged forward, bringing her stake down to strike.

The creature looked like it might have been smiling and made a sound that could have been a laugh but sounded so garbled and wheezy that it just as easily could have been a growl. It turned slightly and it's tail unravelled from beneath it, swinging outward it hit Kennedy hard in the stomach, flinging her against the wall.

The creatures tail pulled bak revealing it's edge of spikes now stained with blood.

Willow screamed her eyes darkened to so that the whites disappeared, resembling two pools of inky black liquid. Her hair and clothes flapped in a sudden wind. Darkness grew from the roots of her hair as though spreading through her whole body from within her deep black eyes.

"GET OUT!" commanded willow in a deep unnatural voice.

The creature seemed to be smiling again it lunged forward, it's body extending, fangs glistening in it's leering beak-like reptilian mouth.

It swept it's claws through the air toward Willow, it's arms extending, revealing a span that looked like it could reach from one end of the attic to the other if fully expanded.

But it never made contact.

Just as the claws would have touched flesh the creature turned instantaneously into a cloud of black vaporous smoke which dissipated into the air quickly leaving no trace of the horror it had once been.

Willow sped forward and bent over the man touching the back of her hand to the mans bloody neck for a moment before turning and running to Kenedy's side.

"Ken, are you alright?"

Kennedy looked up moaning and clutching her stomach.

"Sorry Will" She said through gritted teeth as she pulled herself up, leaning her weight on Willows shoulder. "I let him get under my guard..." she moaned again and Willow bent down to help her stand. "... Lucky thing you're the big hitter huh? He just smoke in the wind now?"

Willow shook her head. "No. I had no idea what I was dealing with, and if it came here ready to take on Witches I figured I shouldn't take any chances. It's still alive, probably."

"What did you do to it?" asked Kennedy finally sitting down on a nearby chair.

"Teleported. Far away was the most specific I could manage. Unless it can teleport,(and I kinda doubt it can or it wouldn't have burnt through the door), we should be safe for a while. Long enough to make a Houdini at the very least."

Kennedy nodded as Willow picked up some of the fallen herbs and and pressed them to her stomach whispering an incantation.

A soft green glow emanated from the place where Willows hand touched Kennedy's stomach and after about a minute Kennedy began breathing more steadily and stood up.

"What about him?" Kennedy asked nodding toward the man on the floor, though she knew the answer.

Willow just shook her head again.

"That thing was after the book I think." Said Willow. "I think it was trying to pry it open when we came in."

"Should we take it? For safe keeping?" Asked Kennedy.

"I think they'll assume we stole it. I dunno if I wanna piss off a coven of witches."

"Well we can't leave it here, it's obviously not safe." said Kennedy.

"We'll leave them a note then."

"Willow scrawled a note on a piece of paper which read "The book is safe.", turned back over the table and set the note sticking out beneath the cauldron."

"They headed downstairs, deciding to call the police anonymously from a pay phone as they didn't have time to deal with the murder investigation that would inevitably ensue, closed the front door and got in the car to head back toward the hotel.

Just as Willow was getting in the drivers side she had another strange sensation that she was being watched. She looked around quickly, and there in the window of the manor, for the briefest second, she thought she saw a very familiar figure.

A curvy woman with long sandy-blond hair and a kind yet sad look in her eyes.

But the next second, Tarah had vanished.


	12. Dreams

**((I do not own the following creations or cannon characters of them: Buffy the Vampyre Slayer, Underworld, Charmed, Angel and the X-Men))**

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**Chapter 12: Dreams**

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Judy Darlang awoke on a cold stone floor beneath a heavy fleece blanket. Her eyes took a few moments to adjust to the dim light, images fading in over each-other, shadows receding into shapes. She saw the room was made of the same material as her bed, the only light came from a single torch upon the wall apposing her.

As she struggled to get up she heard a voice from somewhere out of her field of vision.

"Don't do that. You hurt your head. Wait a minute."

Judy looked around, the voice echoed off of the stone walls making it difficult to pinpoint it's source.

"Hello?" she inquired tentatively.

The pain in her head was slowly returning, a stabbing pulsating pain that seemed to ebb and flow as she tried to concentrate.

Judy took the voices advice and lay back down. "Who are you?" she asked after a few minutes.

"Doesn't matter." came the reply. "How's your head?"

"It hurts." responded Judy flatly.

"I'm not surprised by that. I am a bit surprised you're not dead. That's a pretty serious wound." the disembodied voice was at once calming, benevolent, and sinister. "What's your name?" It asked.

"I'll tell you mine..." Judy's voice trailed off as the pain in her head struck unexpectedly. She was suddenly missing being unconscious very much.

"Christian." the voice said after a minute.

"Judy." said Judy through gritted teeth.

Something dabbed her forehead. Judy started, then realised it was a wash cloth. The damp cloth was very soothing.

"Thank you." Judy said to Christian.

"Welcome." Christian said to Judy.

Another long pause. The ache was subsiding somewhat steadily if slowly. After a while Judy ventured "Can... can I see what you look like?"

No one answered for a while, and then a face appeared about five feet above her, half in shadow, the other half illuminated by the torch-light. It was a very pale face of a rather young man who looked to be about Judy's age. He had hair so pale it looked more silver than blond, his eyes looked as though they may have once been blue but were so drained of pigment they looked to be made of ice. He wore a thin black dress shirt over a tight black under-shirt, and had one silver earring. His hands and neck were as pale as his face and also rather dirty, smudges of dried mud and soot were especially visible against the ghostly epidermis.

Judy took all this in for a moment. Christian wasn't smiling. His mouth was shut in a steely dead-pan. His eyes were the only part of him that betrayed his being a living person and not a manikin, but they were so hollow and empty, it felt like looking into the deadness of space.

"Bet I don't look that good." Judy joked evasively.

Christian looked like he was almost going to smile, then his eyes wandered to her wound and he stopped short.

"You should get some rest Judy." Christian stated darkly.

Judy didn't like his tone, but really didn't have much of a choice.

"Oh, do you have a phone maybe you could call my..." Judy began.

"No." interrupted Christian. "I don't have a phone-line or a cell here."

"Oh." Judy eyed the boy wearily.

After much internal debate she decided that since he had dressed her wound and hadn't killed her so far, she could trust that he probably wasn't going to kill her if she 'rested her eyes' for a bit. There was something about this boy that put her instincts on edge, she didn't like the feeling in the pit of her stomach anymore than the one from the bump on her head, but her options were limited, she would have to wait it out.

"I think I'm going to rest a bit more." Judy yawned at length.

Christian nodded and moved took the damp cloth to a basin of water, ringing it out silently.

Just before her eyelids closed and she drifted off to painless REM Judy thought she saw the boy poor the basin-water into a jar. But she soon forgot this as she found herself drifting from dream to dream. They were strange dreams unlike any she had had before with some peculiar common threads, always there was a girl, always there were men watching from a distance, always there were monsters with distorted, cruel faces and long, dangerous fangs, each monster ending with each dream in a cloud of dust.

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**This was a short chapter but I really felt the need to keep the story going even if at a bit of a crawl. Thank you to reviewers and fans of judy, I'm thinking of just taking her story and making it it's own fic. PM or review if you, gentle readers, have any thoughts on that too.**

**Cheers!**

**-TM.**

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